Can you hide it?
by shir0usagi
Summary: Natsu and Lucy become a couple, but before they even get a taste of their relationship, a mission with Erza and Gray comes to ruin their plans. As they find it too early to tell their friends in Fairy Tail,they decide to keep it secret. Read to see how they try to conceal their relationship, with the turn of events not quite in their favor, and their friends caught up in a mess too
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! This my first fanfic here! It is kind of a sequel to a fanfic I've published in YouTube, you can watch it here if you want: watch?v=v4-VQ2kGVMk If you're lazy to do so, here's what you need to know (for those who want to see the prequel, don't read further so that you won't spoil the story!) : Once in a few years a special happening is held in Fiore Kingdom, called the Great Magic Ball. At the ball, Lucy and Natsu got drunk and banged (what else?!), but they decided to keep their relationship as it is, so they remained friends. **

**This fanfic here takes place some months after the Ball, let's say 6 months later. Oh, and it takes place before the whole Tartaros arc.**

To Lucy's house:

Lucy opened the bathroom's door with a towel around her and came out, followed by a cloud of steam. "Aah, that was refreshing". She walked to her closet, picked some clothes and when she was about to take off the towel, she heard Natsu's voice.

"Yo Lucy!"

Lucy quickly turned around and launched a kick in his face. "What the hell are you doing here?" Natsu lost his balance but the table behind him prevented him from falling. "Geez, always popping up out of nowhere.."

"Sorry" Natsu said rubbing his cheek, which got red from the hit.

"If there isn't anything you want, go home, you trespassing freak!"

"Calm down, I just wanted to give you your keys. You dropped them at the guild."

The angry expression on Lucy's face disappeared. "My keys?"

Natsu, took a key case out of his pocket. A bunch of golden and silver keys glowed inside it. "Here."

"Thank you, Natsu!" She took the keys. "Aquarius is going to scold me for that…" The image of the Celestial Spirit whipping her formed in her mind. But she snapped out of it quickly, and realized Natsu was still standing there. She looked the other way. "Anyway, can you leave now? This is getting akward.."

Nothing had changed in their relationship since the time they decided to forget about that night. They were still best friends, still going on missions together, still laughing their hearts out whenever something funny happened. Yet something was different. They avoided staying alone with each other. Whenever Happy or their friends in Fairy Tail were not close, they would both pretend they had something to do and leave with a hasty "See ya later". However, they never admitted themselves that they avoided each other on purpose, they wanted to prove themselves that it was something they had completely let go.

Natsu broke the silence, half serious, half joking. "Alright.. But it's no big deal you know! We've been though more akward situations, don' ya think?"

Lucy froze. She didn't expect that answer. She thought he would cope with the awkwardness and leave. She turned around again, slightly blushed, without looking in his eyes.

Natsu sighed, regretting for what he said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable." He wasn't sure whether he should expect an answer. After a few seconds, that felt like ages, he thought he should give Lucy some space and started to walk towards the window to leave. He never used the door in Lucy's house after all.

He had only made a few steps when Lucy said nervously: "Say Natsu, do you ever think about… that time…you know.."

"Sometimes." He really did. Sometimes that he couldn't sleep , it always was one of the first things that would come to his mind, or maybe it was the reason that sometimes he couldn't sleep. He wasn't sure. What he knew is that whenever he recalled that night, things about Lucy that he is too used to, like her voice, her smell, her skin, would suddenly become more lively in his mind, and he would find them cute.

"Me too.." Lucy replied. She had gotten closer. Natsu did the same. Their lips were now inches away. Lucy closed her eyes as he was about to kiss her. But instead, he said in a low voice "I feel like I don't want to hold back."

"Me neither." She opened her eyes. "I can't go on wondering what it would be like if we were like this…"

He put his arms around her shoulders, his forehead resting on hers. "Wanna give it a try?" he said in the same low voice.

"Yes, I think."

"Great!" He was now speaking loudly and quickly. "I'll do it right this time! Come on Lucy, I'm taking you on a date! I've never had one."

"Okay!" Lucy smiled. She felt unexpectedly happy. _It's kinda weird_, she thought_, but it feels good_. "Just let me put some clothes on!" She ran to her closet and started searching for clothes. _What should I wear on my first date, what should I wear?..._ Suddenly her enthusiasm dissolved and she turned to Natsu. "Hey, we depart for the mission with the others in an hour. Baka"

**~Flashback ~ **One day before, at the guild:

Erza picked a piece of paper from the request board and waved it in Gray's face. "This is our next mission. We're going to Onibus"

Gray took the paper and read the mission. Then he looked at Erza. "I don't know, it looks too easy. I want something more challenging, like beating bad guys to a pulp."

Erza's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about? The client is Yajima-san! Master's lifelong friend needs our aid and you're turning him down?" she asked angrily.

Gray looked puzzled at his friend. She seemed really serious about it. "But...I intend to become an S-class this year.."

"Gray… you want some S-class kick ass?" she threatened him.

_What the heck.._ Gray thought, _she has rage mode on…_

The door opened and Natsu, Happy and Lucy got in.

"What's going on here?" Natsu asked.

Erza stopped glaring at Gray and turned to the others. "Guys, what do you think of this mission?"

Lucy read the mission quickly, skipping the details. When she read the reward, she started doing maths in her mind. A couple of seconds later, she was smiling. "That's exactly how much money I need for my rent! Hell yeah, I like this mission!"

Erza nodded in content. "Natsu, Happy, what about you?" she put the paper in their faces.

"I'm in." Natsu said.

"Aye!" Happy added.

"Great!" Erza's eyes were sparkling. "Mira, we're taking this mission!"

"Okaaay!" Mira's voice sounded from the bar.

"We're going to Onibus!" Erza said thriumphantly. She gave Gray another angry glare and then left the guild.

**~End of flashback~ **

"Shit. I completely forgot about that." Natsu sulked.

"Natsu…" Lucy started, hoping that he wouldn't get her wrong, "I don't want them to know about us. Not yet at least… Cause, I don't know…it's too early and we don't even know if it will work out.."

She was afraid of his reaction_. What if he thinks that I'm embarrassed about us? I'm not. What should I do…What should I do?_

Natsu frowned and his eyes grew wider. He imagined their friends' reaction. He could see a happy Erza, an even happier Mira, Happy rolling his tongue at 'You liiiike each other", Cana drinking to that, Gray stripping (out of joy, he guessed), Elfman babbling about that's what being a man is, Master holding a party to celebrate it and everyone else... Knowing that this is what Lucy meant, he rushed to reassure her. "Yeah. We won't tell them for now." He had a weird expression on his face, still affected by the madness of this fantasy.

Lucy sighed out of relief. "Thank you."

Natsu looked at the clock. "Whoa, there's no time, I have to go pick Happy!"

"And I have to pack!"

Natsu gave her a quick kiss and then jumped out of the window shouting "Later"

Lucy stood at the window and starred at Natsu as he was running to find his partner. "Use the door, idiot" she said softly.

**So this is the first chaptrer! There will probably be 5 or 6 more chapters. Review if you liked it! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 guys! Actually, I've written the whole story but I don't know when it's best to publish each chapter. Anyway!**

One hour later, Lucy was running to the train station. She was so excited that she could hardly concentrate to pack her stuff, so she ended up being late. As she was getting closer, she saw Levy coming from the other direction, running as well.

"Lu-chan!" Levy screamed as they were now both running towards the gate.

"Levy-chan! What are you doing here?"

"I came to see Gajeel off! He has a mission in Hargeon." She could hardly breathe. "What's up?"

Lucy wanted to tell her friend about Natsu. Levy was the only one that she had talked to about that night, and she was the best at keeping secrets. "Actually I…" she started, but they were almost where the others were waiting. " I'll tell you another time!"

"Sorry I'm late!" Lucy told the others, out of breath.

"Gray-sama", Juvia started, "Why don't you take Juvia with you on missions?"

"See…the reward for each one would be less and Lucy will start complaining about the rent."

_Love rival, it's your fault after all…_ She gave Lucy an angry glare. Lucy could feel her threatening aura. "Then go on a mission with Juvia instead!"

"I've already signed for this one. Besides you have a mission with Gajeel."

"Juvia has had many missions with Gajeel-kun! Juvia wants to take one with you!" She was about to cry.

"I can switch with you if you want!" Levy told her.

"It's a tough one for you, little" Gajeel said, putting his arm around her.

"Maybe next time we go together." Gray said. He had that usual carefree smile.

Juvia's face lit with joy and she threw herself on him. "Yes, next time" she said softly. Normally, Juvia would have had a hysterical reaction, but as she had gotten closer to Gray those past few months, she didn't want scare him away. Gray, on the other hand, would normally push her gently, but he let it go instead. Deep down, he enjoyed this calm version of Juvia.

"Time do board", said Erza. "See you guys!". Juvia released Gray, and the four mages and Happy got on the train. They saw Levy and Juvia waving their hands as they made their way to some empty seats. Lucy and Natsu looked at each other for a moment and then looked away. _It's kinda akward with the others around.. _Lucy thought.

"Let me explain the details of the mission" Erza said cheerfully. "Yajima-san opened a new restaurant in Onibus. The opening will be held this afternoon. But as he is a former member of the Magic Council, he fears someone might attempt to sabotage. Our job is to prevent any kind of fuss, while acting as members of the staff."

"Sounds easy!" Lucy replied.

"Oh I forgot! Mira said she booked a room for each one of us at the inn we'll be staying" Erza mentioned.

"We'll be compensated for that awful trip with some luxury... H-How considerate.." said Natsu. His eyes were swirling due to nausea. "I n-need Wendy's Troia. W-Where is she by the way?"

"She's on a mission with Romeo" Happy replied. "I wish Carla was here too".

Lucy felt a little uneasy and went to the toilet. As she threw some water in her face, she heard Natsu opening the door behind her. "Natsu.. you came after me.. How cute!"

"What? I just wanted to throw up" he said and rushed to the cabinet. _Right, what were you thinking Lucy…_ she thought. Natsu tried to empty his stomach but he hadn't eaten anything. When he felt a little better he turned to Lucy. "So we'll all stay in separate rooms. I'll sneak into yours at night!"

Lucy blushed. "I don't know.. What if you come when I'll be taking a bath?.."

"I'll join you then..". He smiled in a way she hadn't seen before. She was surprised that he pulled off that dirty look, considering his motion sickness.

"Sure" she said lustfully.

"I'm all fired up! Oh here it comes again-" he said, rushing back to the cabinet. "You go back to the others, I'll come later"

Lucy returned to her seat, thinking that she probably sounded like a cheap whore.

3 hours later, at the inn:

Gray, Lucy, Happy and Natsu were waiting as Erza went to take their keys from the reception. The inn was really big and beautiful. "It seems that there has been a mistake with the reservations and we'll all stay in a room." she said when she came back.

Gray sighed. "Geez, they had one job.."

"Yeah, tell me 'bout it." Natsu muttered, obviously pissed.

They walked to their room. "At least, it's spacious" Erza mentioned, as she put her luggage next to her bed. "We need to buy some supplies.." she said with a pensive look. "Gray! Come with me!"

"Aye!" he said surprised.

"I'm so tired, I think I'll take a nap and dream about fish" Happy said and crawled into Natsu's bed. Soon after he was snoring. Natsu and Lucy sat on the bed next to his and starred at Happy.

"He's so cute when he's sleeping" Lucy whispered.

"That innocent little kitty cat, he has no idea.. I feel bad for hiding it from him." Natsu whispered back. "You know, I was thinking, we can go out for a walk when the others will be sleeping. Like at midnight.."

"That's a good idea actually!" she said. She was glad that he was taking it seriously.

"I know! I'm smart, aren't I?!"

"You know what? it's tickle time!" she said and and started tickling him.

"No ! Stop it!" He tried not to laugh out loud.

Suddenly they both felt a cold hand on their shoulder. "Hello you two!" Gray said. They both jumped out of the bed shouting.

"W-We were just…" Lucy started.

"I-It's not what you think…" Natsu continued nervously.

Gray looked at them confused. "I don't know what you're talking about. I just wanted to scare you."

"Be quiet, I'm gonna catch it." Happy mumbled in his sleep.

Natsu tried to act indifferent. "Why aren't you with Erza?"

"Cause it turned out that with the term supplies she meant strawberry cake. " He had already taken of his clothes. "Anyway, we should get ready for work." Gray said while he was pulling his shock off his foot.

"Then why did you strip?" Lucy asked annoyed.

**Hope you liked it. Please keep reading, it gets both funny and sweet.**


	3. Chapter 3

Later, at Yajima-san's new reastaurant, 8-island:

Yajima-san greeted them. "Welcome my kids! How's Macky?"

"He's sending his greetings" Erza replied.

"We have many reservations for today. Maybe it'd be better if there was one more of you.." he said.

"Leave it on me!" Lucy said cheerfully. She took a golden key out of her case. "Open up! Gate of the Maiden!". A pink haired girl in a maid costume appeared.

"Did you call me, princess?" asked Virgo.

Yajima's eyes sparkled. "A maid!"

"Virgo will you give us a hand in here?" said Lucy.

Virgo bowed. "As you wish."

They went to the staff's room to put on the waiter costumes. Erza and Lucy came out of the women's room. Gray and Happy, who were ready, and Erza walked out. Natsu was still striving to fasten his tie. "Stupid thing, how is this supposed to-"

"Need some help with this?" Lucy asked.

"Yes. Thank you." he said as Lucy was fixing his tie.

"Say Natsu, how do I look in this outfit?" She was wearing a tight, light pink mini-dress.

"Umm… Normal." he replied.

"Tch." Lucy crossed her arms and look the other way.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"You should say something like: _Lucy, you look so cute in this outfit! It suits you well!_ I am your girlfriend. You should be praising my beauty." she said annoyed.

Natsu looked at her_. Is that so…_ he thought. He never had a girlfriend before, nor was he ever interested to a girl this way before. He realized that he's clueless about that kind of stuff. "Come here.." he said finally.

Lucy moved towards him, although she still looked annoyed, and he pulled her close. Their lips met and she put her arms around his neck. Her irritation faded away as she surrendered to the kiss. _Come to think of it, this is the first time we do it properly… _she said to herself. Natsu's hands moved from her back to her waist and then on her hips. He wanted to do more than that, but he feared that he would ruin the moment. They stayed like this for a few moments, losing sense of time and place, when suddenly the door opened.

"Am I interrupting?"

Natsu pushed Lucy away and they both looked scared at Virgo.

"What do you want, V-Virgo?" she asked nervously. Her cheeks were still burning. _Good thing it was just Virgo.._ she thought.

"I was wondering if you wanted to punish me, princess."

"Maybe I want now…" Lucy mumbled.

A tall ginger haired man showed up behind Virgo. "Lucy, Natsu, hey!"

"Loke! What are you doing here?" Lucy asked surprised.

"I was with Virgo when you summoned her and I thought that you haven't called me in a while, so I came to see you."

"Is that so?!" she said smiling.

"My, you look so cute in this dress! It suits you well!". Hearing that, Natsu narrowed his eyes but Loke didn't notice.

"You know" , he started as he put his arm around her shoulder, "I just promised a bro-night to Gray, but if you'd like to have a date with me, I'll cancel it right away!"

"Cut it out." Natsu said suddenly. He looked relatively calm but quite serious at the same time.

Loke took his hand off Lucy and looked at him. He was surprised but still smiling. "Why? You mind us dating?"

"Yes." He said it without thinking. Lucy's eyes widened.

Loke looked puzzled now. "May I ask why?"

Natsu looked at Lucy, who was nodding negatively behind Loke's back, then he looked back at Loke. He laughed nervously. "I mean…no! No I don't mind at all. Date her, she's all yours!" he said, slightly bumping his fist on Loke's arm.

Loke smiled again. He didn't get what is actually going on. "Well Lucy?"

"I can't force a gate closure, can I?" she said.

"Nope, I came on my own. Well..I take it as a no". Lucy nodded. "Alright. Maybe I'll be luckier next time". He walked through the door. "Let me know if you change your mind! See you Natsu!" he said, waving his hand.

Lucy and Natsu stood silent until he vanished from their sight. Natsu sighed. "Look, I really like Loke but you need to do something about him.."

"I know.." she agreed. She looked at Natsu. "Are you jealous by the way?" she teased him.

"I'm not jealous, I just don't want people messing with my girlfriend! And I'm pissed because he's good at this and I'm not. Dammit!" he muttered.

Lucy smiled. She found Natsu's reaction extremely sweet. _You might not get a compliment right, but still you're so cute…_"Let's go, the others will be looking for us!"

Their mission went smoothly, except for the restless, truly evil Jiggle Butt Gang, that sneaked into the restaurant in order to steal the clients' pockets. But they were unfortunate as Fairy Tail's strongest team got rid of them right away. So, 4 hours later, Natsu, Happy, Erza, Lucy and Gray were walking out of the restaurant. They saw Loke at the other side of the road. Gray left to join his friend.

"Don't be late. You'll wake us up if we're asleep." Erza said.

"I know." He replied as he was leaving.

"Loke! Come by the guild anytime!" Erza screamed.

"I will!"

Erza and the others headed to the inn while Gray and Loke walked into a bar. Finding one wasn't hard, as Onibus was quite a vivid place.

"It's been a while since we've been out!" Loke said.

"Yeah. So.. what up?"

"You know, spirit stuff.."

Gray smiled. He thought at times he was still not used to the fact that his friend now lives to the Spirit World. "Are you going to talk to a girl or what?"

"Don't wanna. Lucy turned me down again."

"Lucy again.. Why don't you just stop chasing her?"

"I don't know, she has something special.. She is so kind. I owe her so much."

"You shouldn't get your hopes high, you know."

"Why? Is there someone else?"

Gray tried to remember whether he had seen Lucy with anyone. "I don't think so… She's only hanging out with Natsu, but it's not like she would date the flame brain. So no." He took a sip of his drink. "I just have a feeling that you're not her type."

"I'll become her type. Anyway, what about you? What about Juvia?"

"Nothing" he said quickly.

"Nothing? C'mon, I can tell something's on!"

Gray sighed. "I…don't know how to deal with her.."

"Ooh? Could it be that you like her more than you want to?"

"Where did you get that?" Gray looked slightly annoyed.

"Alright. Why don't you go talk with a girl here?"

"I'm in no mood for that today.." he replied.

"Bro's in love.", Loke made fun of him.

"Just go die in a hole already!" he muttered, but he caught himself looking the other way when he did.

Loke laughed. He always had to dig the truth out of Gray. Now that he was satisfied, he could change the topic.

"I'm off" Gray said half an hour later and finished his drink. "I don't want to be yelled by Erza. What about you?"

"I'm gonna talk to that brunette over there." Loke pointed a girl at the other side of the bar.

Gray smiled. "For crying out loud… And then you wonder why Lucy doesn't take you seriously. Anyways. See ya."

"Nighty night Gray-sama!" Loke said, imitating Juvia's voice.

"Shut the fuck up!"

Gray headed to the inn. _First Erza and now Loke, asking me about her… I don't know, alright?!_

**So you can see Loke's double role in this chap (love rival + a trigger to Gray's feelings for Juvia). Actually, I think I'd ship Lolu if it was not for Natsu.**

**Hope you like my story so far! Please review if you do! I need to know hehee**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4! You see, I want it to last long, but then the chapters will be short.. Quite a dillema!**

When Gray returned to the inn, the others were just about to go to bed.

Natsu jumped on his bed. "Man, I'm so tired." Gray threw himself on his, and Lucy covered herself in her blanket.

"Goodnight minna." Erza said and turned the lights off.

"Aye!"

Lucy put her head out of the blanket, smiling. _Finally I'll have some alone time with him.. Can't wait. _There's no way she could fall asleep_. _Half an hour later, the clock sounded midnight. Lucy turned around and looked at Natsu. He was snoring softly, a bunch of pink hairs fell on his forehead. _Of course, he's sleeping!_ She was not mad at him though. Sure she was making plans in her mind the whole afternoon, but it was a tough day after all. _Seems that it was not our lucky day… Another time then! _She starred at Natsu until she fell asleep.

Erza opened her eyes, made sure that everyone was asleep and got up. She exquipped in everyday clothes, put some perfume on and jumped out of the window.

She walked on the pavement across the river. No one was around. _It's been a month…_ she thought. Her heart was beating faster as she was getting closer to the place they chose to meet. When she finally reached it, she saw a figure standing in the shadow of the bridge that was above. The figure, having sensed her presence, moved out of the shadows. The moonlight lit Jellal's face. Erza jumped in his arms. He held her tight, her feet were above the ground. When she stood on the ground again, Jellal bent towards Erza and kissed her on the lips.

"I've missed you" she whispered.

"Me too. How was your mission?"

"Normal." She had been trying to get a mission in Onibus for weeks. "Forget about mine, what about yours? Did you make any progress?"

"Apparently the local Dark Guild we've been spying is a part of the Baram Alliance. But we haven't learnt anything related to Zeref that we didn't already know so far. If we don't find out anything useful in the next few days, we'll destroy it. They're quite an evil guild." He didn't want to tire her with the details of his mission. The time he spent with Erza every now and then was priceless to him, he didn't want to exhaust it discussing about those kind of stuff. He wanted to know about her, how she did all those days that they were apart. He drew some stray hairs out of her eyes. "I just remembered…"

"What?" she asked.

His expression changed. "You promised you would be wearing that outfit with the animal print…"

Erza giggled. "Oh that…". She exquipped in her flight armor.

"You look cute" he said as he examined the cheetah ears on her head.

"I don't know if that fetish is normal though.." She said.

Jellal smiled. He looked at the horizon behind Erza when he suddenly saw something that made him freeze.

"What is it?" Erza asked as she turned around. When she saw what Jellal was starring, her jaw dropped. A man with glasses was walking down the road from the other side of the river, followed by two other men in a rather weird suit.

"That's Lahar!" she said in panic. "What the hell is he doing here?" _Is he looking for Jellal?_ She thought.

"Vacation, I hope…" He still couldn't believe his eyes. _What a bad timing,_ Erza thought.

"I'm terribly sorry Erza… I'd better go." He felt like life was sucked out of him as he said those words. He let her down once again.

"You don't have to apologise. Just leave!"

"I'll contact you via pigeon. Take care Erza." He said. She stared at him as disappeard. She took a deep breath, realizing that she was still wearing her flight armor_. I look ridiculus with that outfit, alone in the middle of the night... _Erza headed back to the inn, worried and disappointed.

The next morning, Natsu, Happy, and Gray woke up early in order to go buy tickets for their return to Magnolia. The train departed early in the afternoon, but they feared that the seats might be taken before the train arrived in Onibus station. Lucy and Erza stayed at the inn. Erza was lying on her bed, starring at the ceiling with a pensive face and Lucy was tiding her stuff.

Erza took a deep breath. Lucy heard it, but she didn't want to interrupt her friend's thoughts, so she kept on tiding.

" Hey, Lucy…" Erza started.

Lucy looked at her. "Yes?"

She took a deep breath again. "Have you ever had a boyfriend but you couldn't let anyone know?" She looked serious.

Lucy suddenly widened her eyes and started shaking. She felt a cold shiver running her spine. _She knows! She knows about me and Natsu and she's trying to make me spill the truth! What should I do…What should I do?_ She blinked a couple of times. _Maybe I should pretend I don't know what she's talking about… But it's Erza we're talking about. She'll just force the truth out of me. My God, I'm doomed big time…_ She imagined Erza in her Purgatory armor, hitting her ruthlessly. _"Speak up you filthy worm, you have an affair with Natsu? I'll kick you to death if you don't tell me the truth!"_ Her eyes grew even wider and she felt drenched in cold sweat. _I'm done if I don't say the truth! That leaves me no choice…_

"Y-Yes." she said nervously.

Erza's eyes narrowed. "And what do you think about it?" she asked in a bossy manner.

Lucy was fidgeting. "I…don't know yet.."

"Hmm.."

_But how did she find out in the first place?_ Lucy wondered_. We've been acting normal so far. _She dared ask. "B-But I'm curious, just when did you realized that..you know..?"

Erza's aggressive expression gave place to a smooth one. "Right away. I think it was love at first sight." Her tone was rather nostalgic.

_Wut? _Lucy thought. She was ready to hear anything but that. _How come she thinks that I fell for Natsu when I met him? She wasn't even there! She actually thinks that I liked him all along?! My God…I never thought I've given such a false image of myself! How embarrassing.. _She rushed to defend herself: "Umm, no it wasn't!"

But Erza seemed like she didn't hear that. She crossed her arms. "But then we walked separate ways. He became a villain. Sure a lot has happened, but that belongs to the past. I thought that we would never have a chance. But I guess, you can't just turn your back on love."

_We? Villain? What on earth is going on? _"Hey, wa-wait! I lost you! Natsu what?" she said, completely confused.

Erza frowned. "Natsu? Has work burned your brain cells, Lucy_?" I'm opening my heart here, is she even paying attention?_ she thought.

Lucy's face turned red. "I, I…" she just started to realize what might have been off all this time.

"I'm talking about Jellal!" She sighed. "Look, don't tell anybody. We've been seeing each other a few months now.."

_Of course she is talking about Jellal!_ Now that she thought of it, it made perfect sense. _My God, I almost blew our secret!_ "Erza… why haven't you ever told us anything before?"

"It's not that I don't trust my guildmates, but if it leaks out that Fairy Tail knows his whereabouts we'll be in trouble."

Lucy realized that Erza was just looking for some support. She suddenly felt ashamed for misunderstanding her intentions. Erza now looked sad. "What's wrong?" Lucy asked.

"I knew it wouldn't be simple. We can't just go on dates like normal people do. I was prepared for this. But saying goodbye without knowing when the next time we'll see each other is gonna be, or if there'll ever be a next time is so hard ". Normally, Erza was strong enough to handle that, but last night's incident really shook her up.

Lucy knew what she was talking about. The Dark mages were on the move, and so was the Council. She wanted to comfort her friend but she couldn't find any proper words. She just gave her a friendly hug. "It will get better, you'll see. Just cherish the time you spend together." Until then she thought that hiding what she had with Natsu was trouble, but now she realized how petty her problem actually was.

**Please review if you like it! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! Thanks for the reviews and follows! I really appreciate it! It's nice to know that what I have on my mind doesn't suck.**

When the boys came back, they all went to 8-island to receive their reward. Also, Yajima-san wanted to give them a letter for Master Makarov, the content of which should be kept in absolute secrecy. Now they were at the town's central square.

"Just thinking that I'll have to get on a train again makes me sick." Natsu said.

"We still have a lot of hours until we depart.'' Erza mentioned. "I'd like to go shopping"

Lucy smiled. Erza confided in her, shortly before they left the inn, that she received note from Jellal, and they would be meeting in a quiet place.

"Actually I fell a little tired. I'll go wait at the inn" Gray said.

"Then the rest of us will do some sightseeing, what do you say?" Natsu turned to Happy and Lucy.

"Go ahead! There's a big aquarium in Onibus and I intent to stay in this paradise until noon at least!" Happy said cheerfully.

"Just me and Lucy then." Natsu said, acting indifferent.

"We'll come and pick you up okay?" Lucy told Happy.

"Aye sir!"

"See you later then!"

"Bye!"

They scattered to different directions.

Natsu and Lucy enjoyed their very first date with all their hearts. They visited the main sightseeing spots in Onibus, with a quick break for brunch in between. It was not really different from what they used to do as friends, except for the fact that they would both take some time to stare at one other while the other one was not looking, and that they would randomly stop their stroll for a quick kiss. Natsu wondered how come they didn't start being like this earlier, but then again he thought, they had all the time in the world ahead to do stuff like that. He always believed that the whole dating and romance thing was just out of his character, but now he was actually enjoying it_. But maybe it's Lucy that makes it so special... _As for Lucy, she had caught herself thinking about how it would be like if she and Natsu were more than friends the past few months (only to curse herself for having such thoughts one moment later), but now that she really did, it exceeded all of her expectations. It all felt new but sort of familiar at the same time. She slowed down her pace, lost in her thoughts.

"What are you thinking about?" Natsu asked when he realized that he was just pulling her hand rather than walking next to her.

"Oh nothing…" She crossed her arms around his neck. "What were you thinking?"

"All staying in the same room was such a waste. I was really looking forward to…you know…me, you…bath…other stuff.." Although he said that, his eyes looked innocent like a ten year old.

"Pervert!" Those thoughts had crossed her mind as well, but she wanted to tease him.

"Who's a pervert?!"

She walked a little forward, then turned around and pulled her tongue out, making a funny grimace. "As if!"

At some point, it slightly started to rain.

_Drip drip drop… Juvia can't rest at the thought that Gray-sama is wandering around with two females… That's why she came to Onibus to see him. Drip drip drop…_

Juvia was now at the center of Onibus, heading to the inn. She turned on the left, to a picturesque paved road. As she walked , she saw two familiar figures strolling down the road. She was behind them, so the blonde girl and the pink haired young man couldn't see her_. Juvia will go greet her friends, they'll probably know where Gray-sama is,_ she thought. She accelerated her pace. Now they were walking just a few meters ahead. Juvia raised her hand to say hi, but she almost lost her balance and dropped her umbrella when they suddenly started to kiss. She couldn't believe her eyes. They kept kissing and kissing. Juvia was shocked.

"What the heck?!" Oops! She said it out loud.

Natsu and Lucy stopped immediately and turned around only to see Juvia petrified.

"J-J-Juvia.. what are you doing here?" Lucy managed to say.

Juvia was still standing still. "You two are…"

"Yes. But don't tell anyone about it!"

Juvia put her hand on her heart and lowered her eyes_. A secret passion? Juvia craves for it!_ She picked up her umbrella, turned around and started to walk back to the opposite direction. "Rest assured. Your secret is safe with Juvia. Have a nice day." she said calmly as she walked further and further.

Natsu and Lucy watched as she disappeared.

"Should we trust her?" Natsu asked.

"I don't know."

_Juvia considered Lucy as her greatest love rival... But it turned out that she and Natsu-san are lovers. What a twist of fate. Juvia was so shocked that she completely forgot to ask where Gray-sama is… Juvia'd better go look for him at the inn._

When she got to the central square she decided to take a shortcut though the park. It was full of trees and rare plants. Due to the trees' shadows, it was relatively dark. Suddenly she heard a noise. Slightly scared, she hid behind a tree. A couple of seconds ago, she moved her head in order to find the source of that noise. As she looked around she saw another two familiar figures. Erza stood with her back against a tree and Jellal was holding her tight. They were making out as well. Juvia covered her mouth with her hands and hid again.

_What on earth is going on? Why is everybody all lovey dovey and Juvia still has no luck with Gray-sama?_ She was on the verge of insanity. _Curse them all!_ For a moment, it was as though the rain had become wilder_. No, that was a terrible thing to wish…_ _But it pains Juvia's heart to see the others flirting so boldly..It hurts… It hurts… . . .That's it!_ She stabbed her nails on the bole of the tree, peeling off little bits of it.

"What was that? Did you hear it?" Erza asked Jellal.

"No.. It was nothing." He said and continued kissing her neck.

But Juvia didn't mind that she was heard._ Juvia must become bold in order to make Gray-sama hers! That's it!_

Later, at the inn:

Gray was about to fall asleep on the couch when he heard someone knocking the door. He thought that if it was Natsu and the others they would have opened with their key.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"Gray-sama! It's Juvia! Open up!"

Gray opened the door and he saw her smiling. "Juvia, what are you doing here?"

"Juvia was done with her misson early, and Mira-san said that you guys wouldn't be back till today afternoon. So Juvia decided to come and see you!" she said cheerfully and walked in. "Gray-sama, your clothes.."

He looked down and realized he was only wearing boxers, as usual. "Shit" he said, looking for his jeans.

_But then again, that's convenient for Juvia…_ she thought, as she took off her coat. Gray, who had put his jeans on, noticed that she was wearing quite a revealing top. Juvia sat on the couch next to him and took a bottle of red wine out of her bag.

"Here! Have a drink with Juvia." she bent towards Gray, slightly squeezing her breasts on his arm.

Gray unconsciously looked at her cleavage. "Big…" he muttered.

"Did you say something?"

"What? No…" he said nervously.

Now she was getting even closer. He tried to create some distance but she kept moving closer to him, until Gray reached the edge of the couch. "Gray-sama, I…" she tried to get on top of him, but Gray pushed her back. He wondered how much more he could resist.

"Wanna go join the others, he stood up putting his hand in his hair. Juvia stood up as well, but she didn't pay attention to what he said.

"Behold the new self-confident Juvia." she liquified herself and a wave covered her body. _What kind of weird sorcery is she up to?_ Gray thought. When the wave disappeared, her clothes were gone.

Gray stood stunned for a few moments. Juvia noticed, much to her satisfaction, that he had blushed. "P-Put some clothes on!" he said when he snapped out of it. He grabbed his shirt and covered her with it. He thought it probably was his last effort, he was really turned on.

"Why? Why don't you like Juvia…" she asked desperately, bumping her small fists on his chest.

"Man, I can't stand it" he whispered and kissed her passionately. He didn't want to hold back anymore, he needed a taste of her. He pulled her waist on his and Juvia put her hands in his spiky black hair. _Juvia is in heaven, _she thought. His usually cold body now felt warm to her. He opened his eyes while they were still kissing. He saw Juvia had hers still closed, then he looked behind her head and froze.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she turned to see what had bothered him. Natsu, Lucy, Erza and Happy were starring speechless, with their mouths open. They all looked as though they had just experienced the akwardest moment in their lives.

"Kyaaa" she screamed and hid behind Gray's back. She was only wearing his shirt after all.

"Akward" Happy whispered to Natsu's and Lucy's ear.

Gray tried to speak a couple of times, but no voice came out.

"I would ask what's going on here but I don't think I wanna know the details.." Erza said. Her eyebrow was shaking.

"Why don't we just go wait at the lobby?" Lucy suggested, smiling nervously. "Come on, you two." She pulled Happy and Natsu's ear. Erza followed them out of the room. Gray could see a smile forming on her face as she turned around to leave.

**Had the others not showed up, there would be a mini-lime here. hohoho. But I think it'd be better if I didn't attempt tit on my first fanfic. Review if you feel to do so!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry that this chapters is shorter than the others. The story was supposed to end in this chapter, but this morning my mind was bombed with so many ideas for the ending, so I'm going to post another chapter, which is gonna be big, compared to the others. The next chapter will be the final one!**

Later, they all went for lunch. No one mentioned anything about what had happened (Erza urged the others not to bring that up and make Gray and Juvia feel uncomfortable. Lucy agreeded right away, Natsu doesn't meddle with others' affairs anyway, as for Happy, Erza had to threaten him: _No fish for a month, ya heard?_). Later on, they boarded on the train to Magnolia.

Natsu was sleeping on Lucy's lap, Happy was paying cards with Plue, and Juvia was sleeping, with her head leaning on Gray's shoulder. After one hour, his shoulder started to hurt but he didn't move, he didn't want to wake her up. Having her sleep on his shoulder warmed him inside. He looked at Juvia, and remembered that he had promised to go on a mission with her. He turned his head again and starred at the landscape out of the window, thinking what kind of mission they should pick. Juvia, on the other hand, most of the time pretended to be asleep. At some point, she opened her eyes and looked at Lucy, who was playing with Natsu's hair. Maybe it was because she had seen them kissing that morning, but as she looked her starring at Natsu, she could definitely tell that Lucy had feelings for him. She wondered if she was paranoid for thinking that Lucy liked her Gray-sama instead. Lucy, as if she sensed someone's gaze on her, raised her head. Their eyes crossed and they smiled at each other. _Now that you're not my love rival anymore, I think we'll get along very well, Lucy_, Juvia thought.

A couple of hours later they arrived to Magnolia's train station. It was evening. Erza and Juvia headed to Fairy Hills, Gray to his house, while Natsu, Happy and Lucy walked in Magnolia's South Gate Park.

"Man I'm hungry. Let's go eat something! Right Happy?"

Lucy expected to hear Happy's typical 'Aye Sir!'. But instead, Happy remained silent. "What's wrong Happy?" she asked.

Happy turned around and looked at his friends. "Say, how long are you going to hide from me?.." he said.

"Happy…"

"I'm a cat you know, not an idiot! I know what's going on with you two."

"So you knew?.." Natsu said. He felt terrible.

"Aye. Cause you've been acting weird lately. I was waiting for you to tell me, so I acted like I didn't know. I wanted to prove you that…you can count on me… "

Lucy felt like she wanted to cry.

"I am your partner. You can act all you want to the others, but please don't put me aside."

Natsu hugged his little partner. "Happy, I promise I won't hide anything from you ever again. I'm sorry."

Happy nodded. "You too Lucy, you have to promise too!"

Lucy smiled. "I, Lucy Heartfilia, promise that I will never hide anything from Happy!"

Happy returned to his normal cheerful self. "Aye Sir! Now let's go to eat fish!"

"Whatever you like!" Lucy said and pinched Happy's cheek. Natsu laughed.

They headed to their favorite restaurant.

"I'll give you some space when you want to do diiiirty things to each other!" Happy said.

"There you go again, silly cat!" Lucy said irritated. _Did you really think he's an innocent little kitty cat Natsu?!_

It was midnight. While Happy was sleeping in Lucy's room, Natsu and Lucy were sitting by the river, right outside Lucy's room, watching the boats that crossed the river. Lucy remembered that time when she was ill and Natsu put the sakura tree on a boat just so she could see it from her window. Just how much he had done for her ever since their very first encounter… Falling for him was inevitable after all. She was happy that they could now speak their minds to each other, it would be a living hell if it was one-sided and she had to keep it to herself, trying not to ruin everything.

"You know" Natsu started, "Even if no-pants-Gray , Juvia or Loke sort of were in the way, the time we spend together those past two days was really something else. I know that I'll want more of it tomorrow, and even more the day after tomorrow and so on. I don't really mind if people know."

Lucy smiled. "Me too." She had the time of her life, _how could this not work out?!_ "They'll go nuts but we'll be laughing about it later on.."

"C'mon, let's go to sleep! The train trip killed me." he said. They started walking back to Lucy's house.

"Just to let you know, I'm going to sleep in your arms all night long." she said.

"Wait, what if my arm gets numb?"

"I don't care!"

"It's gonna be a long night.." he muttered to himself.

"Did you say something?"

"Umm..no"

**Please review if you liked it! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey! This is the last chapter of my story! Enjoy!**

The next morning, at the guild:

Erza was eating a strawberry cake as always, Gray and Juvia were at the request board, trying to pick a mission, and Wendy was chilling with Carla and Romeo at a table nearby.

"Found anything good?" Gray asked.

"Not yet. Juvia is looking for a long mission."

"Why?"

"Because Juvia wants to spend much time with Gray-sama!"

"I see.."

Carla took a sip of her tea. "The weather is very mild today. It's perfect for a wa-" before she completed her sentence she stopped and her eyes widened."

"What's wrong Carla? Did you have another premonition?" Wendy asked worried.

Carla giggled. "Yes."

"What is it about?" Romeo said.

"Na-uh, I won't tell you. But it's a good one! You'll see.."

Meanwhile, Lucy and Natsu walked towards the guild with Happy flying above their heads. "So you're going to say it."

"Yeah." Natsu mumbled. His arm still hurt from last night.

"We agreed it's time we should, but to show up and just tell the news.. I don't know, it's akward . Aaah what should I do?" Before they realized it, they were now standing outside the doors of Fairy Tail.

"So what do we do?" he asked.

"Let's just walk in an act normal, we'll figure something during the day." Lucy said.

Natsu opened the door. "We're back!" They headed at the bar, where Mirajane welcomed them with a big smile.

"Welcome back! Do you want something for breakfast?"

"I want a brownie!" Lucy said.

"A big burger!" Natsu added.

"Right away!" she said cheerfully and gave Lucy her brownie.

"Lucy.. can I have some of the brownie?" Natsu asked.

"Come on Natsu, you're gonna eat a whole burger!"

"Please" he begged with puppy eyes.

"Fine! Just one bite!"

"Thanks Lucy! Oh, you have some chocolate here" he pressed his lips on hers to suck the chocolate from her lower lip, without thinking thet there were people around.

"Here's your burger Na- Whoa.." Mira lost her balance at the sudden sight of them kissing as she turned around, then tripped and fell on the floor. The noise of the broken plates and glasses caused everyone to look at the bar.

"Whaaaa.." a mixed sound of surprise echoed at the guild hall.

"My God, the whole guild is looking at us! I wanna die of embarrassment" she whispered in Natsu's ear.

"My my, what do we have here?!" Mira said, rubbing her hurt butt. She was smiling with joy.

"Say Natsu-nii, Lucy-nee, are you kind of..together now?"

Natsu giggled. "Umm..well…"

Macao and Wakaba starred in awe. "That lucky bastard!"

"THAT'S A MAN!" Elfman cried out.

"Lu-chaaan, that's great!" Levy run to Lucy. "That's what you wanted to tell me the other day?"she asked in a low voice.

"Yeah" Lucy whispered back with her face was still dyed red.

Gray gasped. "Seriously?! Man, I can't believe you managed to get a girlfriend."

"What was that, you stripping bastard? Even Gajeel has a girlfriend and you're surprised that I do?" he shouted in Gray's face.

"What did-ya say, Salamander?" Gajeel screamed, pointing his fists towards Natsu.

"You wanna fight? Bring it on, I'll take on both of you!" Flames appeared on Natsu's fists.

"CUT IT OUT YOU THREE!" Erza jumped on the trio, knocking them out. She brushed the dust off her and picked Natsu from the floor.

"There's nothing that would make me happier as your friend than this. I wish you the best."

"Hold on a sec" Gray tried to stand on his feet, "this means that you already were together when we went to Onibus?"

"Aye sir!" Happy said.

"Shame on you, you didn't tell us anything." Gray teased them.

"H-hey now G-Gray, they m-must have had their reasons t-to do so.." Erza mumbled.

"Naaatsuuu!" Lisanna jumped on Natsu and grabbed his neck. "I knew it! I knew it!" She put her free arm around Lucy's shoulder. "You guys just earned me some good 700 jewel!

"Huh?"

"Cana, gimme the money!"

"Dammit! Natsu is dense my butt! All men are the same after all!" Cana muttered as she pulled some money out of her bra and put it in Lisanna's hand.

"Hey, did you make a bet on us?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, I bet that you'll become a couple before summer." Lisanna said cheerfully.

"Just wait, I'll get it back when I win our other bet!" Cana threatened.

"You've made another bet?!" Lucy couldn't believe her ears.

Cana giggled. "You see, I bet that Gray and Juvia will hook up by the end of the month."

"Lisanna, I'm afraid you have to give her money back!" Happy confided in her.

"What?! Oh come on!" She gave Cana her 700 jewel back.

"Suck it Lisanna!" she put the money back in her bra. "Alright" she climbed on the bar so that everyone could see her. "I want to raise my glass-" she started in a loud voice.

"Ahem..dear, that's not a glass.." Gildarts corrected her.

"Sorry, my bad. I want to raise my barrel to Natsu and Lucy, and all the lovers in every present and future tense! Kampai!"

"KAMPAI !" the guild hall trembled by everyone's screams.

Lucy started to blush again. "That's just…"

Natsu gave her a grin. "It's no big deal, they're just looking for an excuse to party. We'll be laughing about it later on, remember?"

"Guess you're right". Natsu put his arms around her.

Mira walked on the stage. "Minna, this made my day and I feel that I want to sing a song! It's a duet, so I need a guy to back me up."

"These people are crazy!" Lucy cried out. _Just when I thought that they had already reached the peak of madness... Good thing that Master is not here today._

"WHO'S MANLY ENOUGH TO SING WITH MY SISTER?" Elfman shouted.

"I wan-" Gajeel started but Levy jumped on him and literally climbed on his head to prevent him from finishing his sentence.

"Give us a break Gajeel, my eardrums still hurt from the last time!" she said.

Laxus, wanna sing?" Mirajane asked smilining.

Laxus coughed. "Sorry Mira, I have a sore throat."Although he looked serious, he smiled inside. His old self would have said something like _Get your head out of your ass Mira, I don't sing. _But the man that he is today would never say something like that to the sensitive, despite her demonic hidden nature, Mira.

"Too bad, and I wanted to sing with you. Freed, what about you?"

"Alright" he joined Mira on the stage.

Mira picked her guitar and started to sing in the most angelic voice.

_We were strangers starting out on our journey  
Never dreaming what we'd have to go through  
Now here we are and I'm suddenly standing  
At the beginning with you_

"Freed, it's your turn!"

_No one told me, I was going to find you  
Unexpected what you did to my heart  
When I lost hope, you were there to remind me  
This is the start_

Surprisingly, Freed had a good voice.  
"Together now!"

_And Life is a road and I want to keep going  
Love is a river I want to keep flowing  
Life is a road now and forever  
A Wonderful journey_

_I'll be there when the world stops turning_  
_I'll be there when the storm is through_  
_In the end I wanna be standing_  
_At the beginning with you_

Mira continued._  
We were strangers on a crazy adventure  
Never dreaming that our dreams would come true  
Now here we stand unafraid of the future  
At the beginning with you_

They united their voices again, as people joined the stage one after the other for a dance.

_And Life is a road and I want to keep going  
Love is a river I want to keep flowing  
Life is a road now and forever  
A Wonderful journey_

_I'll be there when the world stops turning_  
_I'll be there when the storm is through_  
_In the end I wanna be standing_  
_At the beginning with you_

"Isn't it amazing Carla?" Wendy said, restraining herself from letting out a tear. "Happy ever after, just like a fairy tale."

So their friends' reactions were even more boisterous than they had expected. A total chaos. But then again, that's Fairy Tail.

**So this is it! Hope you liked it! I liked it, but it's only natural since it's my story hehe. The song is the soundtrack of Anastasia, "At the beginning" by Donna Lewis and Richard Marx.**

**Oh! I'd like to let me know if you'd want me to write a fanfic of the prequel of this story. I've published it on YouTube, but I think maybe there are things I can't show with just screenshots from the anime. **


End file.
